TV screens in bedrooms for gaming?

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STAG
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TV screens in bedrooms for gaming?

Postby STAG » Thu Aug 29, 2024 2:19 pm

Looking for advice on TV screens in bedrooms for the purpose of gaming|? My eleven year old is asking to have one, apparently all of his friends do or they have playrooms with screens in them. I am very anti although I do have sympathy that we don't have a spare room that I can put one in.

Do children have screens in bedrooms for gaming and if so how do you police it so that they don't turn onto full on game heads. I am very nervous of this happening.

Many thanks for any suggestions as to how best to deal with this. I don't want to be a dinosaur mum but also aware that too much technology can be very bad for some young children.
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Needcoffeenow
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Re: TV screens in bedrooms for gaming?

Postby Needcoffeenow » Mon Sep 02, 2024 6:39 am

I have two boys and a girl. The oldest boy was absolutely addicted to gaming and we let him have the screen in his room. I managed to do some rather feeble deal regarding gaming time and piano practice but he spent literally every spare moment on it. I also thought some of the games were quite violent for a youngish teenager. I wished, like my Model Parent Friend that I’d stipulated that the gaming had to be in the kitchen where we could all see what was going on. But he did really well at school and Uni and beyond whereas the youngest, who wasn’t that interested in gaming, didn’t. So perhaps, as
with so many parenting dilemmas, it matters but not as much as we think at the time!
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muddyboots
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Re: TV screens in bedrooms for gaming?

Postby muddyboots » Mon Sep 02, 2024 9:08 am

I think it’s a very bad idea.
It’s a guarantee for more gaming, so unless you want to encourage more gaming and have more battles with him regarding gaming you are putting yourself in a situation which will make it harder and harder for you to police.
Screen in bedrooms are bad full stop, will likely want to do it before bedtime when he should be winding down for sleep.

It’s like putting a giant jar of sweets in your kid’s room, but simultaneously say please only eat one.

So his friends have screens in their rooms? Great, let them .
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MagnoliaMum
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Re: TV screens in bedrooms for gaming?

Postby MagnoliaMum » Mon Sep 02, 2024 10:53 am

I wouldn't agree to it at his age. Policing screen time is hard enough anyway, but if he is up in his bedroom, you will quickly lose track of any agreed limits or knowing what he is playing. And both my sons know boys who turn their computers back on after bedtime and play during the night, presumably without their parents' knowledge and to the detriment of their sleep!

With a downstairs computer, you will be able to more easily keep an eye on what is happening and see how your son deals with it. If he seems sensible and in control then you can review this decision when he's a bit older. If he has addicted friends who play all the time or he finds it hard to stop, then you will be glad that he is not shut away in his bedroom.

If he has to have a computer in his bedroom, then you could investigate switching the Wifi off every night or disabling it at times that he shouldn't be playing. Or a laptop might be a compromise, so that it can be removed and only given to him for the agreed gaming times. Otherwise my advice would be to keep ensuring he is doing lots of sports or other activities, so that gaming is only one of the things he enjoys. Now that kids play games together with their friends online, it is very social and really fun for them, so you have to make sure that other things match up to that and they get a balance!
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avocado
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Re: TV screens in bedrooms for gaming?

Postby avocado » Mon Sep 09, 2024 6:36 am

Unfortunately, you have to be the dinosaur mum. Gaming is so addictive; it’s like a drug. The more they have, the more they want. The science is there.

Think about it, if it’s in his room, it will be the first thing he sees when he wakes up in the morning.
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Emerald92
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Re: TV screens in bedrooms for gaming?

Postby Emerald92 » Tue Sep 10, 2024 5:50 am

Agree with all the comments above! The sweet analogy is spot on. Of course performance in schooling may or may not take a hit, it's not so easy to predict that, but what it does do is take away time for other hobbies, sports, even socialising with friends in real life. These games are addictive and mental health and development during this age is so important. Sadly with my own son it was used as a crutch to escape from reality and I can't say it's that much better now that he is 26. My other children who never gamed function very well but the one who did so heavily is still hugely addicted to technology.

Of course this is a bit of an extreme view and he could be an exception, but there just isn't a way of knowing that until you live through it but the risks outweigh the benefits.

I think for the amount of time he can game a day (an hour or so) there is no need for a tv in his room. Likewise, bedrooms need to be associated with sleep, so I wouldn't recommend a tv in there regardless.
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